Assistant/Associate Professor of Law (Rank depending on experience)

The School of Law welcomes applications from those interested in teaching Lawyering Skills (Legal Writing) in a hybrid format in an online distance program as well as a traditional residential curriculum. Other areas: Civil Procedure and Contracts. 
 

PURPOSE OF THIS POSITION: 

The primary purposes of this position are to teach, research, and serve. The teaching will cover courses specified by the Dean of the School of Law at times and places consistent with the needs of the program of legal instruction.  The faculty member must also commit to remaining current in the scholarly life of the discipline and should carry out professional scholarly activities such as attendance at profession conferences, research, and writing projects within the discipline.  The faculty member must also serve the School of Law, the University, and the profession, shall advise students on their academic programs, and perform service duties as needed within the department, college, and university.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

1. Course development and classroom teaching in a residential and distance learning environment.
2. Primary teaching responsibility in Lawyering Skills (Legal Writing) other areas of interest include Civil Procedure and Contracts. The anticipated teaching load is 12 to 13 credits per year typically divided between required courses and seminars.
3. Ability to teach in a hybrid format in an online distance program approved by the ABA Council on Legal Education.
4. Advising students on an individual and sometimes confidential basis.
5. Staying current in the discipline through scholarly research and professional development.
6. Performing service duties, especially involving membership on committees. Participation in university governance, together with effective teaching, advising, and scholarship and professional development, is required for promotion and tenure in the University.

HOURS: 

Classes are generally held during the day, but all faculty members must also teach in the evening JD Access part-time online division on a regular basis.  Faculty are required to meet all classes as scheduled and to keep regular office hours at times that are mutually convenient for the student and instructor.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND ABILITIES: 

1. Distinguished academic record, including a JD from an ABA-approved law school or a foreign equivalent.
2. Significant and meaningful practice experience, including a judicial clerkship, is a preferred qualification.
3. Ability to speak to a group of students in a classroom in a residential and distance learning environment.
4. Ability to interact verbally with students in a classroom environment or with individual students in private meetings. 
5. Knowledge of the field of study that is sufficiently broad to teach most of the basic courses in the discipline.  Sufficient depth of knowledge to teach upper division courses in at least one area of specialization.
6. Ability to use the telephone and E-mail for communication or to use alternate methods for effective communication, including Learning Management Systems platforms for distance learning courses.
7. Ability to grade student exams, term papers, reports and other in-class and outside assignments.
8. Skill in basic computer and web-based technology use and ability to assist students in computer literacy in the field.
9. Ability to meet classes on schedule and to carry out assignments in a prompt and timely fashion.
10. Skill in interpersonal communication sufficient to interact effectively with students, colleagues, and administrators.
11. Skill in reading, analyzing, summarizing and in other ways comprehending and utilizing written academic material.
12. Ability to write effectively in internal university communications, in interaction with outside constituencies, and in preparing scholarly and professional material.

Western New England University (WNE) is a private, nationally ranked, comprehensive institution with a focus on preparing work-ready and world-ready graduates. Founded in 1919 in Springfield, Massachusetts as a division of Northeastern College, WNE’s 215-acre suburban campus serves more than 3,700 students, including over 2,500 full-time undergraduates. More than 47,000 alumni have earned degrees through its 90+ undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs at Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and School of Law. Students come from 39 U.S. states and territories and 23 countries. Of 45,104 living alumni, 30% remain within the region, residing in the four Western Massachusetts counties and northern Connecticut.

WNE is classified among nationally ranked universities in US News and World Report, and among the Top 100 Undergraduate Engineering programs, and in the Doctoral/Professional Universities category in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Western New England University is committed to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by acknowledging and embracing diversity of thought, opinion, and approach with colleagues regardless of background, culture, and organizational level.  WNE encourages diversity in our job applicants to ensure the best culture and work outcomes.